Musicians would call it dynamics. The conference orchestrated by ERE Media last week for the sourcing community was punctuated by accented notes, a few well placed rests, and heightened emotional crescendos followed by equally moving decrescendos. Dynamics! After any concert, when the musicians stop playing, those who were immersed in the moment will carry that experience away and relive it for a while afterward. Without the external accompaniment to sustain the emotion, life’s volume and tempo can begin to drown out even the memory of the experience.
How many people moved by speakers and key networking moments last week will return to real life on Monday only to find that the lessons they learned don’t fit nicely into their usual routine. The culture of most organizations is not very receptive to revolution from the ranks and a longer evolutionary tactic involving buy-in and eventual funding is required to make real change happen.
Organizational immovability requires missionaries to effect change.
In some cases, the inertia of the ongoing process cannot be stopped or even slowed down. This is a world where sourcing is often an underestimated and undervalued commodity. Words alone will not change the direction, but repeating the message at every opportunity has an eventual impact. This will not just be a series of five-second sound bites that eventually causes change to happen. The lessons learned at SourceCon need to be adapted to the current environment, fine tuned and refined. Most of us will not be dealing globally with multiple cultures, but the eloquence of Adam Lawrence will not be lost if that message is absorbed and repeated in context. Don’t expect lightbulb moments, gasps of recognition and spontaneous applause when you suggest that phone sourcing actually works because nobody does it like Conni LaDouceur and many are still lost in a post and pray recruiting mentality. Only the true believers and those who hone their skills to approach the level of the SourceCon presenters will cut through the fog of an immovable culture.
Even receptive cultures require catalysts to implement change.
The role of the few, moved by their passion, can turn thoughts and processes in a new direction. Some SourceCon attendees were sent by their employers to bring back the latest technology in order to give them a competitive edge. Influence by those few can ignite the flame of change to make new things happen. Working within established ATS or CRM boundaries can be deflating if pushing the boundaries of current practices is not expanded. Best practices gleaned from the Panel Discussion and other presentations are examples of how to move forward and not accept the status quo. It was interesting to work the room and eavesdrop on coffee-talk and casual conversations at the conference which focused on learned best practices and a willingness to share, somewhat boastfully, about successes. It also highlights that interaction and participation is just as important as listening to the key speakers. The video presentations are better than nothing, but nowhere close to the feeling of participation that comes only from the live conference. Returning home with the message that “I talked to somebody at XYZ Company who did it this way” is just as important as notes from the experts.
Personal education and edification is always a permanent change.
The change that happens within an individual can be challenged by the environment, but lasting personal improvement can never be stripped away. The tips, tricks and tactics presented by Shannon Myers, Shannon Van Curen and Eric Jaquith will set an individual sourcer above the rest and improve company results through individual professional excellence. Sourcing excellence that is exemplary in its basic form will be recognized and institutionalized. Even if there is no immediate pat-on-the-back for the personal improvement gained, there will be the self-satisfying knowledge that there is value added by personal efforts. Everybody’s parents probably told them that “nobody can take away your education,” meaning formal education, but the lessons we learn as adults that are of our choosing and in our profession are priceless.
It is interesting that with all the emphasis on how to source the best talent in the most efficient manner, most of the conversation seemed to be mechanical in tone. This is not a criticism of the largest, best run and most exciting SourceCon of all time, but a systemic problem with recruiting in general that focuses on the process rather than the people. The term “candidate experience” was only mentioned once from the platform and perhaps the next SourceCon should sponsor a general session on the value of looking at the process from the other side of the table. We are not lumberjacks harvesting trees, or this would have been called LumberCon. A view of the process from the perspective of the hunted rather than the hunter would serve to remind us that we are impacting real lives of real people in our profession.
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